Chartered by the Joint Program Executive Officer for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) in April 2006, the Joint Equipment Assessment Program is responsible for integrated technical and business processes supporting the surveillance, assessment, life-cycle testing, reuse and disposal of chemical and biological defense equipment for Joint and DoD operations. The Joint Equipment Assessment Program is responsible for cyclic inspections of individual protective equipment and collective protective equipment at the wholesale (supplier) and retail (service and joint units) levels. The program staff is certified in product inspection and use of test equipment and supports production quality assurance at manufacturers for Defense Supply Center-Philadelphia. This service is used extensively by all the services and the Special Operations Community and provides statistical data to JPMs, services and other DoD agencies on trend analysis, latent defects and storage issues.
Additionally, in the areas of surveillance testing, shelf life extension and set asides, the JEAP develops and maintains technical expertise in support of DoD requirements for shelf life and surveillance programs, which support Total Life Cycle Management of CBRN-D Equipment; consolidates CBRN-D assets in warehouses that are geographically located for equipment acclimatization and surveillance testing; and alerts Services, Joint Units and Joint Project Managers of equipment service life expiration. Performs toxic and non-toxic agent testing and assessments of CBRN-D assets at certified DoD and commercial laboratories. Additionally, product testing and analysis is conducted to validate products that meet their specifications and assess new technologies for applicability to JPEO-CBD mission. The Set Aside program monitors product life-cycle through testing and analysis of use, storage environments, and degradation over time.
The Defense Accountability, Reutilization and Disposal Program, established as a result of Congressional concerns for safety and National Security, works with DLA and DRMS to provide accountability of all DoD CBRN-D Assets in order to ensure U.S. military CBRN-D equipment is not released to the public and/or acquired by hostile nations.